It’s been brought to my attention by Rafael that some of you guys may be interested to know how I’m growing Jujubes in containers here outside Philadelphia
A little backstory…
As some of you may know, I grow a lot of things in containers as I have no choice with my lack of land. Specifically 100+ varieties of figs as they are by far my favorite fruit. Figs also have their challenges here as more than half of the varieties I grow require some sort of head start and adequate heat throughout the season to fruit reliably. Containers really help with that. Having a black pot on a patio/driveway really makes a huge difference. More importantly a lot of growers take advantage of being able to move them by either shuffling them in and out of storage to wake them up earlier or are like me and keep a good amount of them in a GH till early May to give them a good amount of extra heat early in the season.
Unlike figs my young Jujubes are given no head start and are even overwintered outside covered with straw pushed in with the rest of my hardier fruit trees/shrubs. Persimmons, apples, pears, stone fruits, che, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries & of course jujubes are all thrown in there. Pretty much anything hardy to zone 6 survives this way here in my zone 7A.
They seem to do well in a 10 gallon sized pot. Haven’t needed to go higher yet. I did have some issues with under watering my first year and lost a couple fruits. As they are drought tolerant, they do need a significant supply of water to hold onto their fruits I’ve found. This year I had them on a drip system and mulched the container well and had no problems. Additionally, some like Lang haven’t put out much, but I think it’s due to age or a lack of pollination.
Some of the earlier maturing fruits can dry on the tree, but for the most part I pick them around this stage and stick them in the dehydrator. They turn red and really have a nice taste. I have really enjoyed them this year this way. I think 100 fruits is probably feasible at maturity in a 10 gallon.
Anyway… I don’t think we should all be growing them in containers, but it’s certainly an alternative if you live somewhere north of me. This was also somewhat of a preliminary report. I’ll be sure to keep you guys updated when these trees have more seasons under their belt.